Vehicles are old and well known. Countless forms of vehicle exist such as sedans, sports cars, vans, sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks, panel trucks, and the list goes on. Each particular configuration is designed for a particular purpose. Each particular configuration provides its own unique advantages and is particularly well suited for certain uses. However, each particular configuration provides its own unique disadvantages and has its own shortcomings.
One popular form of vehicles is known as a pickup truck. Pickup trucks come in a great variety of sizes, shapes and configurations themselves however common components include a main body, having a cab that houses the user controls, such as a steering wheel, gas pedal, brake pedal, door locks, window controls, and other components. Pickup trucks also include a bed that is enclosed by a forward wall, fenders and a tailgate.
Pickup trucks are tremendously useful vehicles because of the bed. The bed allows pickup trucks to hold and haul bulk items with relative ease and convenience.
The functionality of pickup trucks is also greatly enhanced by the tailgate which can be quickly and easily moved between a closed position, wherein the tailgate closes the rearward end of the bed, and a lowered position, wherein the tailgate is lowered and essentially extends the length of the bed allowing for longer objects to hang outward from the end of the bed. Tailgates can also be quickly and easily removed thereby increasing the functionality further by eliminating the tailgate in situations where it is not needed or in the way.
While pickup trucks are highly functional, the configuration of pickup trucks suffer from a number of substantial deficiencies. One substantial deficiency of pickup trucks is that the bed is often dimly illuminated, if illuminated at all. Another substantial deficiency of pickup trucks is that the tailgate can be easily stolen or vandalized because the tailgate is so easy to remove. Another substantial deficiency of pickup trucks is that operation of the tailgate is often manual in nature.
To address the problem of the pickup truck bed being dimly illuminated a number of pickup truck bed light kits have been developed. These light kits tend to include one or more lights that are installed in particular arrangements within the bed. The lights are then connected to the vehicle wiring system to provide power and ground.
While these light kits do improve illumination of the pickup truck bed, these light kits suffer from a great number of disadvantages. Namely, existing light kits are difficult and time consuming to install, existing light kits require running wiring into the cab of the pickup truck or under the hood to connect to power and ground, and once installed, it is difficult or inconvenient to control illumination of the lights, and the lights can only be controlled in a limited number of ways. Furthermore, adding a pickup truck bed light kit does not address the problems associated with locking and unlocking a tailgate. For these reasons, and many more, existing pickup truck bed light kits leave much to be desired.
To address the problem of the tailgate being stolen, a number of tailgate locks have been developed. Existing tailgate lock systems can be broken down into two primary categories, manual tailgate locks and powered tailgate locks.
Manual tailgate locks require installation of a mechanical lock that requires a key to lock and unlock the tailgate. These manual tailgate locks work for their intended purpose. However these manual tailgate locks suffer from a great number of disadvantages. Namely, existing manual tailgate lock systems are complicated, time consuming and inconvenient to install. In addition, manual tailgate lock systems are undesirable because the operator must retain the key that locks and unlocks the manual tailgate lock. A substantial problem arises if the key is lost or not present when the tailgate needs to be lowered. Another substantial disadvantage to manual tailgate locks is that it requires substantial manual effort for the user to lock and unlock the tailgate which is undesirable. Another substantial disadvantage to manual tailgate locks is that the tailgate cannot be locked or unlocked remotely. For these reasons, and many more, manual tailgate locks leave much to be desired.
Powered tailgate locks provide the benefit that the powered lock can be actuated remotely, which improves convenience for the user. While powered tailgate locks provide added convenience over manual tailgate locks, existing powered tailgate locks suffer from a great number of disadvantages. Namely, existing powered tailgate lock systems are complicated, time consuming and inconvenient to install. In addition, existing powered tailgate locks require running wiring into the cab of the pickup truck or under the hood to connect to power and ground. Another problem associated with existing powered tailgate locks is that once installed, it is difficult or inconvenient to control the lock. Furthermore, adding a tailgate lock does not address the illumination problem. For these reasons, and many more, existing pickup truck tailgate locks, whether manual or powered, leave much to be desired.
Therefore, in view of the disadvantages in the prior art, for the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the specification, claims and drawings there is a need in the art for a bed illumination and tailgate lock system.
Thus, it is a primary object of the disclosure to provide a bed illumination and tailgate lock system that improves upon the state of the art.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a bed illumination and tailgate lock system that has a long useful life.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a bed illumination and tailgate lock system that can be used on practically any pickup truck.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a bed illumination and tailgate lock system that is easy to install.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a bed illumination and tailgate lock system that improves efficiency.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a bed illumination and tailgate lock system that is easy to use.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a bed illumination and tailgate lock system that improves the safety of the vehicle.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a bed illumination and tailgate lock system that provides improved bed illumination.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a bed illumination and tailgate lock system that provides improved tailgate security.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a bed illumination and tailgate lock system that prevents the tailgate from being stolen or vandalized.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a bed illumination and tailgate lock system that works intuitively.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a bed illumination and tailgate lock system that can be controlled remotely.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a bed illumination and tailgate lock system that facilitates manual control of illumination.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a bed illumination and tailgate lock system that provides accessory power in the bed.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a bed illumination and tailgate lock system that can be connected to a conventional vehicle trailer wiring harness.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a bed illumination and tailgate lock system that can be connected to practically any vehicle's electrical system.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a bed illumination and tailgate lock system that that provides multi-purpose functionality.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a bed illumination and tailgate lock system that solves bed illumination and tailgate locking problems in one system.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a bed illumination and tailgate lock system that improves safety.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a bed illumination and tailgate lock system that has a long useful life.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a bed illumination and tailgate lock system that is durable.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a bed illumination and tailgate lock system that is rugged.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a bed illumination and tailgate lock system that can withstand the elements.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a bed illumination and tailgate lock system that provides value, utility and novelty to the user.
These and other objects, features, or advantages of the invention will become apparent from the specification, claims and drawings.